The Twitter/Diigo Experiment has given me the opportunity to assess the value of implementing web-based tools in a formal and structured way. The trial has also necessitated a vast range of personal learning. Having never undertaken a research project before, elements of this project have been both challenging and rewarding.
Even though much time was spent carefully planning and preparing for the trial, it was difficult to anticipate how participants would respond and how the activities would progress. I needed to reflect on the activities as they were happening, and make changes where necessary. I now realise that this is linked to Schon’s model of “reflection in action”.
I would have liked to have worked through this process with the full involvement of the academic programme team and with more student participation. This would have increased the validity and reliability of the study. It would be interesting to re-run the trial in the context of a live module, during academic term time.
I now realise that my position within the team limits my ability to influence organisational change. However, I have demonstrated the potential of the tools and will continue to enthuse about the technologies.
Working though the processes involved in action research methodology has been a new and particularly useful area of learning that will be beneficial to my professional practice. I now have the insight and confidence to transpose this methodology onto other projects to examine current practice, test ideas and introduce new initiatives.
Monday 29 August 2011
Friday 19 August 2011
Tools and Models Explored In Relation To The Trial
Apart from the main micro-blogging and social bookmarking tools, Twitter and Diigo implemented in this trial, additional web-based tools and third party applications were explored and applied throughout the process of undertaking this research and were also used for presenting related information.
Web-based drawing tool Cacoo was used to create Rich Pictures to illustrate CATWOE considerations and scope out initial ideas and modifications relating to the Appreciative Inquiry of the project. A Cacoo diagram of key stakeholders in the project was mapped out in a stakeholder analysis. A SWOT analysis for the pilot was also considered and presented using Cacoo. Time-line diagrams and outline plans were visualised using Cacoo.
The presentation tool Slideshare was used to transform word documents and PDFs into a format that could be uploaded to the blog.
Online survey tool SurveyGizmo was used for pre and post pilot questionnaires.
Widgets utilised on the Masters Action Research blog were, “Best content in Diigo” for the Creative Technologies Diigo group and a Twitter widget to display recent Tweets on the blog site. A Diigo tag cloud for the Creative Technologies Diigo group was also added to the blog, presenting a visual representation of key words used as tags by the participating group when book marking to Diigo.
These widgets provided visualisations of research activity and provided access to additional content.
The model of synchronous learning activities was explored through a live Twitter chat session. Here, a number of third party applications were recommended and utilised. Tweetdeck, Twitterfall and Tweetchat were explored and implemented as methods of engaging in a live chat event.
Web based data collecting tools, the Archivist, Mention Map, Twitter Counter were explored as ways of collecting statistical information. Twapperkeeper was used to archive the live chat. Tweetdoc was used to present the stream of live chat posts, through Slideshare, in a visually engaging way on the blog.
Over the four weeks of the trial activities, pre-existing technical advice, resources and instructional material was distributed to the participants to prepare the group for their involvement in tasks. These resources also helped to raise awareness of social bookmarking, use of Twitter in education and ideas behind networked learning and collaboration. These resources were sourced from existing media found on YouTube, Slideshare and Vimeo. Media used as instructional resources are listed here.
How to open a new Twitter account (4.24 mins)
All about Diigo (3.37mins)
How to set up Diigolet
David Cormier’s video on Community as Curriculum
Guidelines on Twitter chats
Demonstration on how to set up Tweetdeck
Web-based drawing tool Cacoo was used to create Rich Pictures to illustrate CATWOE considerations and scope out initial ideas and modifications relating to the Appreciative Inquiry of the project. A Cacoo diagram of key stakeholders in the project was mapped out in a stakeholder analysis. A SWOT analysis for the pilot was also considered and presented using Cacoo. Time-line diagrams and outline plans were visualised using Cacoo.
The presentation tool Slideshare was used to transform word documents and PDFs into a format that could be uploaded to the blog.
Online survey tool SurveyGizmo was used for pre and post pilot questionnaires.
Widgets utilised on the Masters Action Research blog were, “Best content in Diigo” for the Creative Technologies Diigo group and a Twitter widget to display recent Tweets on the blog site. A Diigo tag cloud for the Creative Technologies Diigo group was also added to the blog, presenting a visual representation of key words used as tags by the participating group when book marking to Diigo.
These widgets provided visualisations of research activity and provided access to additional content.
The model of synchronous learning activities was explored through a live Twitter chat session. Here, a number of third party applications were recommended and utilised. Tweetdeck, Twitterfall and Tweetchat were explored and implemented as methods of engaging in a live chat event.
Web based data collecting tools, the Archivist, Mention Map, Twitter Counter were explored as ways of collecting statistical information. Twapperkeeper was used to archive the live chat. Tweetdoc was used to present the stream of live chat posts, through Slideshare, in a visually engaging way on the blog.
Over the four weeks of the trial activities, pre-existing technical advice, resources and instructional material was distributed to the participants to prepare the group for their involvement in tasks. These resources also helped to raise awareness of social bookmarking, use of Twitter in education and ideas behind networked learning and collaboration. These resources were sourced from existing media found on YouTube, Slideshare and Vimeo. Media used as instructional resources are listed here.
How to open a new Twitter account (4.24 mins)
All about Diigo (3.37mins)
How to set up Diigolet
David Cormier’s video on Community as Curriculum
Guidelines on Twitter chats
Demonstration on how to set up Tweetdeck
Interim Assessment – Twitter/Diigo Experiment
A programme of activities was designed as a trial exercise to test the potential of micro-blogging and social bookmarking to enhance collaborative learning on the Masters course. Reports are available for week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4 of the trial.
Data was collected from feedback presented on pre/post pilot questionnaires, researchers observations and statistical information on levels of participation.
9 of 56 students signed up to the trial. The majority of responses came from pre-enrolled students. The Programme Leader was invited to take part in order to develop an awareness of the potential of the tools. Students and academics gave initial positive responses to the trial, however levels of participation were disappointing.
Overambitious plans in addition to low levels of interest and participation prompted frequent redefining and reconstruction of research plans and activities, resulting in a scaled down version of the project.
Collaboration with academic colleagues proved difficult, as did encouraging student participation. Running the trial during term-time may have increased levels of interest and participation. However, researching issues affecting participation was fascinating. Feedback indicated that the main factors affecting participation were, “other priorities” and “lack of participation of others”.
Exploring action research as a methodology has been a new and inspiring experience. Action research has proven a useful way of testing new ideas, and developing professional practice.
Initial findings suggest that it may be beneficial to test the integration of Twitter and possibly Diigo in a live Masters module. A Summer School of live Twitter chat sessions may be recommended. Feedback has also suggested considering Google+ and Facebook as alternative tools.
Data was collected from feedback presented on pre/post pilot questionnaires, researchers observations and statistical information on levels of participation.
9 of 56 students signed up to the trial. The majority of responses came from pre-enrolled students. The Programme Leader was invited to take part in order to develop an awareness of the potential of the tools. Students and academics gave initial positive responses to the trial, however levels of participation were disappointing.
Overambitious plans in addition to low levels of interest and participation prompted frequent redefining and reconstruction of research plans and activities, resulting in a scaled down version of the project.
Collaboration with academic colleagues proved difficult, as did encouraging student participation. Running the trial during term-time may have increased levels of interest and participation. However, researching issues affecting participation was fascinating. Feedback indicated that the main factors affecting participation were, “other priorities” and “lack of participation of others”.
Exploring action research as a methodology has been a new and inspiring experience. Action research has proven a useful way of testing new ideas, and developing professional practice.
Initial findings suggest that it may be beneficial to test the integration of Twitter and possibly Diigo in a live Masters module. A Summer School of live Twitter chat sessions may be recommended. Feedback has also suggested considering Google+ and Facebook as alternative tools.
Saturday 13 August 2011
Trial - Week 4 Report – Live Twitter Chat on Thursday 11th August 2011
Session Title:
Part 1 - Collaboration and “Community and Curriculum”
Part 2 – Evaluation and feedback
@IOCT_DMUMasters moderated the session.
Session Summary:
The Masters Twittter/Diigo experiment’s live chat session was an exploratory activity to test the potential of Twitter live chat to amplify the enhancement of collaborative learning on the MA/MSc in Creative Technologies. Twitter live chat was also tested as a method of collecting instant student feedback and evaluation.
The chat was attended by a group of pre-enrolled students, an alumni student and Masters programme staff. 8 contributors participated in answering direct questions and engaging in some discussion. 129 tweets were posted and participants were based across the locations of Bulgaria, Singapore, Nottingham and Leicester. None of the participants had taken part in a live Twitter chat before. The chat maintained a vibrant and positive tone throughout.
Pre-chat preparation for the participants involved setting up a third party Twitter application, Tweetdeck, Tweetchat or Twitterfall and watching David Cormier’s video on “Community as Curriculum”. Participants were asked to consider the theme of collaboration and were given the option of preparing tweets on the theme.
The live chat session began as tweets were posted to confirm attendance.
After the participants had posted their introductory tweets, the moderator posted a series of questions with the aim of providing an opportunity for students to reflect on ideas presented in the video and to tease out thoughts on the topic of collaboration in general.
It was quickly agreed that David Cormier’s engaging presentation made the concepts of collaborative and networked learning, clear and understandable.
One twitterer posted @tweeter5 I love the way it is presented as it gives a friendly “way in” to the topic. Technology needs a friendly face #ioctx
As the questions moved on, the group were asked to make a group definition of collaboration. Tweets included:
@tweeter3 #ioctx sharing of information
@Tweeter1 #ioctx Understanding together
@Tweeter6 expanding your ideas & knowledge by other people input!? #ioctx
@Tweeter2 #ioctx learning and working together. Finding ways to understand each other better.
@Tweeter5 in collaboration you don't have to do things the same time but people can have an 'ambient awareness' of what's going on #ioctx
@Tweeter7 Q2 #ioctx Collaborative learning – “joint intellectual effort by students and teachers together” (Smith and MacGregor, 1992)
In thinking about the different role of a teacher in the “old” school, “new” school and “networked school”, participants agreed that the teacher role transforms throughout the various schools, shifting from teacher-led to shared learning through to everyone in a network, building knowledge together.
The group identified key skills needed for successful collaboration. Openness, and a positive aptitude for experimenting, exploration and curiosity were the skills that dominated the call for key skills required. Understanding was also one of the most frequently mentioned skills. Other skills identified as being important to participants were; an awareness of others and a willingness to take part, confidence in own abilities/ideas, the ability to compromise and listen. Resourcefulness, patience and responsibility were also identified as key skills in successful collaboration as were persistence, sensitivity and flexibility.
In gathering opinion on the benefits and challenges of collaboration,
the group identified the main beneficial outcomes of collaboration as being:
Increased innovation, “broadened horizons”, considered multiple perspectives, new ideas created, unexpected and alternative results achieved, own practice challenged, knowledge widened and increased networking, complex problems solved.
The issue of the time-consuming nature of working with others was identified as the main challenge of collaboration. Other challenges highlighted by participants made reference to conflicting ideas, resistance to change, lack of confidence and the challenge of establishing common language and common goals.
Part 2 - Feedback and evaluations
In providing feedback on the live Twitter chat the participants viewed the session as being useful and enjoyable.
@Tweeter2 #ioctx The live chat is a great (and a bit challenging) way of sharing information
@Tweeter3 #ioctx infact we get to know each other here even before our 1st hand shake!! :D
@Tweeter1 #ioctx It’s like a tiny speed collaboration :P
When asked to state their preferred tool of the experiment as a whole, a clear expression of both the benefits and drawbacks of each tool (Twitter and Diigo) was indicated.
Feedback gathered through the live chat on the Twitter/Diigo experiment in general suggested that participants had enjoyed using the tools and also enjoyed the social elements of the activities.
@Twitter1 #ioctx yes, lets do it again and please invite me!
Notable Web Links Highlighted During the Session:
David Cormier’s video on “Community as Curriculum”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4LrB-jFEgM
Points of Reference:
Smith and MacGregor, 1992, What is Collaborative Learning learningcommons.evergreen.edu/pdf/collab.pdf
Part 1 - Collaboration and “Community and Curriculum”
Part 2 – Evaluation and feedback
@IOCT_DMUMasters moderated the session.
Session Summary:
The Masters Twittter/Diigo experiment’s live chat session was an exploratory activity to test the potential of Twitter live chat to amplify the enhancement of collaborative learning on the MA/MSc in Creative Technologies. Twitter live chat was also tested as a method of collecting instant student feedback and evaluation.
The chat was attended by a group of pre-enrolled students, an alumni student and Masters programme staff. 8 contributors participated in answering direct questions and engaging in some discussion. 129 tweets were posted and participants were based across the locations of Bulgaria, Singapore, Nottingham and Leicester. None of the participants had taken part in a live Twitter chat before. The chat maintained a vibrant and positive tone throughout.
Pre-chat preparation for the participants involved setting up a third party Twitter application, Tweetdeck, Tweetchat or Twitterfall and watching David Cormier’s video on “Community as Curriculum”. Participants were asked to consider the theme of collaboration and were given the option of preparing tweets on the theme.
The live chat session began as tweets were posted to confirm attendance.
After the participants had posted their introductory tweets, the moderator posted a series of questions with the aim of providing an opportunity for students to reflect on ideas presented in the video and to tease out thoughts on the topic of collaboration in general.
It was quickly agreed that David Cormier’s engaging presentation made the concepts of collaborative and networked learning, clear and understandable.
One twitterer posted @tweeter5 I love the way it is presented as it gives a friendly “way in” to the topic. Technology needs a friendly face #ioctx
As the questions moved on, the group were asked to make a group definition of collaboration. Tweets included:
@tweeter3 #ioctx sharing of information
@Tweeter1 #ioctx Understanding together
@Tweeter6 expanding your ideas & knowledge by other people input!? #ioctx
@Tweeter2 #ioctx learning and working together. Finding ways to understand each other better.
@Tweeter5 in collaboration you don't have to do things the same time but people can have an 'ambient awareness' of what's going on #ioctx
@Tweeter7 Q2 #ioctx Collaborative learning – “joint intellectual effort by students and teachers together” (Smith and MacGregor, 1992)
In thinking about the different role of a teacher in the “old” school, “new” school and “networked school”, participants agreed that the teacher role transforms throughout the various schools, shifting from teacher-led to shared learning through to everyone in a network, building knowledge together.
The group identified key skills needed for successful collaboration. Openness, and a positive aptitude for experimenting, exploration and curiosity were the skills that dominated the call for key skills required. Understanding was also one of the most frequently mentioned skills. Other skills identified as being important to participants were; an awareness of others and a willingness to take part, confidence in own abilities/ideas, the ability to compromise and listen. Resourcefulness, patience and responsibility were also identified as key skills in successful collaboration as were persistence, sensitivity and flexibility.
In gathering opinion on the benefits and challenges of collaboration,
the group identified the main beneficial outcomes of collaboration as being:
Increased innovation, “broadened horizons”, considered multiple perspectives, new ideas created, unexpected and alternative results achieved, own practice challenged, knowledge widened and increased networking, complex problems solved.
The issue of the time-consuming nature of working with others was identified as the main challenge of collaboration. Other challenges highlighted by participants made reference to conflicting ideas, resistance to change, lack of confidence and the challenge of establishing common language and common goals.
Part 2 - Feedback and evaluations
In providing feedback on the live Twitter chat the participants viewed the session as being useful and enjoyable.
@Tweeter2 #ioctx The live chat is a great (and a bit challenging) way of sharing information
@Tweeter3 #ioctx infact we get to know each other here even before our 1st hand shake!! :D
@Tweeter1 #ioctx It’s like a tiny speed collaboration :P
When asked to state their preferred tool of the experiment as a whole, a clear expression of both the benefits and drawbacks of each tool (Twitter and Diigo) was indicated.
Feedback gathered through the live chat on the Twitter/Diigo experiment in general suggested that participants had enjoyed using the tools and also enjoyed the social elements of the activities.
@Twitter1 #ioctx yes, lets do it again and please invite me!
Notable Web Links Highlighted During the Session:
David Cormier’s video on “Community as Curriculum”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4LrB-jFEgM
Points of Reference:
Smith and MacGregor, 1992, What is Collaborative Learning learningcommons.evergreen.edu/pdf/collab.pdf
Sunday 7 August 2011
The Trial - Week Three Report - Inter-session Activities
The penultimate week’s trial activities have focused on testing micro-blogging service Twitter as a tool for supporting inter-session activities. Inter-session activities and discussions assist learners to stay focused and reflect whilst applying new knowledge and also encourage students to continue in dialogue with each other outside class (Bozarth 2010). Some examples of intersession activities include, post session discussions, posting news and events, sharing information and resources, completing tasks, and reflecting on learning.
To ensure that the activities were relevant to the trial participants, tasks were simulated to encourage the group to reflect, share knowledge and further skills in using Diigo and Twitter. In a live Masters programme module, integrating inter-session tasks would involve careful consideration and alignment to the defined module learning outcomes (Dunlap and Lowenthal 2009). For trial purposes a series of short activities were designed to resemble inter-session instructional material. Participants were asked to express their experience of using the tools encountered on the trial so far, to install a third party Twitter application as a preparation task for a forthcoming activity and to research and share with others an unexplored feature of social bookmarking and micro-blogging tools. Participants were also asked to reply to a request about their attendance at a live event next week.
Below is an example of exchange between two participants reflecting on their experiences of using Twitter.
@IOCT_DMUMasters #ioctx What I don’t really like about Twitter is the limitation of symbols. I often find it hard to express an opinion. (Tweeter2)
@Tweeter2 @IOCT_DMUMasters #ioctx Agreed. They should be a little more flexible. It’s like the old sms days here as it is now!Argh! (Tweeter1)
Levels of participation dropped between weeks two and three of the trial, leaving a core group of four active contributors to week three’s tasks. I joined in the activities using my own personal Twitter account in order to increase critical mass, model responses and act a contributor in the trial community. Reasons for non-participation may have been due to week three falling in the main holiday period. Explanation for this drop in contributions will be established through the post trial questionnaire.
Literature searches this week have explored methods of using assessment rubrics and educational frameworks, models and approaches to encourage online discussions and collaborations. This has proved an interesting area of research, highlighting Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principle, Pelz’s (2004) discussion rubrics, Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles of Good Practice in Education, Salmon’s (2002) Five-stage Framework, the Stages of Collaboration (Palloff and Pratt, 2005), the Phases of Engagement (Conrad and Donaldson, 2004), Connectivist metrics (Downes, 2009 and Baxi, 2009) and Blogging rubric (Fisher, 2010 and Cofino, 2010).
These references can be found on Diigo - see my recent book marks http://www.diigo.com/user/lmcnicoll
Consideration will be given to how these methods and approaches can be applied to the Maters programme if the tools are integrated into specific modules beyond the trial.
The final week of the trial, next week, will test the potential of integrating live Twitter chats into module content as a way of enhancing collaborative learning. The live chat session will also be tested to establish the effectiveness of Twitter chats to act as a forum for collecting feedback and evaluation material.
To ensure that the activities were relevant to the trial participants, tasks were simulated to encourage the group to reflect, share knowledge and further skills in using Diigo and Twitter. In a live Masters programme module, integrating inter-session tasks would involve careful consideration and alignment to the defined module learning outcomes (Dunlap and Lowenthal 2009). For trial purposes a series of short activities were designed to resemble inter-session instructional material. Participants were asked to express their experience of using the tools encountered on the trial so far, to install a third party Twitter application as a preparation task for a forthcoming activity and to research and share with others an unexplored feature of social bookmarking and micro-blogging tools. Participants were also asked to reply to a request about their attendance at a live event next week.
Below is an example of exchange between two participants reflecting on their experiences of using Twitter.
@IOCT_DMUMasters #ioctx What I don’t really like about Twitter is the limitation of symbols. I often find it hard to express an opinion. (Tweeter2)
@Tweeter2 @IOCT_DMUMasters #ioctx Agreed. They should be a little more flexible. It’s like the old sms days here as it is now!Argh! (Tweeter1)
Levels of participation dropped between weeks two and three of the trial, leaving a core group of four active contributors to week three’s tasks. I joined in the activities using my own personal Twitter account in order to increase critical mass, model responses and act a contributor in the trial community. Reasons for non-participation may have been due to week three falling in the main holiday period. Explanation for this drop in contributions will be established through the post trial questionnaire.
Literature searches this week have explored methods of using assessment rubrics and educational frameworks, models and approaches to encourage online discussions and collaborations. This has proved an interesting area of research, highlighting Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principle, Pelz’s (2004) discussion rubrics, Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles of Good Practice in Education, Salmon’s (2002) Five-stage Framework, the Stages of Collaboration (Palloff and Pratt, 2005), the Phases of Engagement (Conrad and Donaldson, 2004), Connectivist metrics (Downes, 2009 and Baxi, 2009) and Blogging rubric (Fisher, 2010 and Cofino, 2010).
These references can be found on Diigo - see my recent book marks http://www.diigo.com/user/lmcnicoll
Consideration will be given to how these methods and approaches can be applied to the Maters programme if the tools are integrated into specific modules beyond the trial.
The final week of the trial, next week, will test the potential of integrating live Twitter chats into module content as a way of enhancing collaborative learning. The live chat session will also be tested to establish the effectiveness of Twitter chats to act as a forum for collecting feedback and evaluation material.
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